Toshiba
Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced the development of a CMOS
image sensor with a small area and low power pixel readout circuits. A
sample sensor embedded with the readout circuits shows double the
performance of a conventional one.(1) Toshiba presented this
development at ISSCC
2013 in San Francisco, CA on Feb. 20.

As demand for commodity mobile phones takes off in emerging markets,
CMOS image sensor need to be smaller, consume less power and offer low
noise performance. The pixel readout circuits of CMOS image sensors are
largely noise reducing correlated double sampling (CDS) circuits, along
with a programmable gain amplifier (PGA) and an analog to digital
converter (ADC). Serial signal processing architecture is best suited
for securing conventional CMOS image sensors with a small area and low
power pixel readout circuits, because a PGA and ADC can be shared by
many CDS circuits placed in each column area of the sensor. However,
smaller size and lower power are still challenges, since noise reduction
circuits occupy a large area in the readout circuits, and PGA and ADC
have high power consumption.

Toshiba has developed three key technologies to overcome these
challenges:1) Column CDS circuits primarily made up of
aria-efficient PMOS capacitors. The area of the CDS circuits is reduced
to about half that of conventional circuits.2) In the readout
circuits, a level shift function is simultaneously achieved by a
capacitive coupling through the PMOS capacitors, allowing adjustment of
the signal dynamic range between the column CDS circuits and the PGA and
the ADC. This achieves low power and low voltage implementation of the
PGA and ADC, reducing their power consumption by 40%.3)
Implementation of a low power switching procedure in the ADC suited to
processing the pixel signals of CMOS image sensors. This reduces the
switching power consumption of the ADC by 80%.Toshiba has
integrated the three technologies in a sample sensor and confirmed that
they double the overall performance of the sensor core. The company now
plans to apply CMOS image sensors with the readout circuits to low cost
mobile phones and medical cameras in fiscal year 2013.

Toshiba is a world-leading diversified manufacturer, solutions provider
and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products and systems.
Toshiba Group brings innovation and imagination to a wide range of
businesses: digital products, including LCD TVs, notebook PCs, retail
solutions and MFPs; electronic devices, including semiconductors,
storage products and materials; industrial and social infrastructure
systems, including power generation systems, smart community solutions,
medical systems and escalators & elevators; and home appliances.

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